Republicans have tried to turn the disgraced airman into a hero. That includes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene saying that Teixeira was being persecuted for being a “white, male, christian,” making him an enemy of “the Biden regime.” Former Fox host Tucker Carlson used one of his final programs to declare that Teixeira was a “whistleblower.” Now it appears that there was at least one real whistleblower in this case in the form of other members of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who warned their superiors about Teixeira and were largely ignored.
The court filings on Wednesday were supplemented by numerous exhibits, including:
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Multiple forms that Teixeira signed acknowledging that he had been trained to handle classified information and understood the consequences of mishandling these documents.
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FBI statements on an audit of Teixeira’s online activity showing that he began posting classified documents on Feb. 26, 2022, two days after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, and that he used his clearance to access “hundreds” of classified documents unrelated to his role in the Air National Guard.
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Evidence that in just the period between Nov. 1, 2022 and April 7, 2023, Teixeira sent more than 40,000 messages to the Thug Shaker Central group.
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Transcripts showing that Teixeira constantly spoke about assassination, fire bombing, and “killing a fuck ton of people” to his followers on the server.
FBI documents also show that Teixeira had a fascination with right-wing violence and mass shootings. Among his search topics were “Ruby Ridge,” “Las Vegas shooting”; “Mandalay Bay shooting”; “Buffalo tops shooting”; and “Uvalde.” Images of Teixeira’s home show one room with camouflage-patterned paper covering three walls, along with bullet-riddled targets and multiple weapons that appear to have been stored in unlocked plastic tubs. He also appears to have had a helmet and body armor that were not part of his Air Force equipment.
One of Teixeira’s co-workers told the FBI that while the leaker was usually “very quiet,” he “often talked about guns.” That co-worker worried that “he would be the first person Teixeira would shoot” if he attacked his workplace.
Also included is a letter that Teixeira wrote to the local police thanking them for not blocking his security over an incident that happened while he was still in high school–an incident in which Teixeira said some things that were “insensitive” and that “made people uncomfortable or even scared.” This appears to have been a threat to carry out a shooting at his school. However, Teixeira assures the police chief that he has changed, writing: “With wearing the uniform and being a representative/ambassador of the United States Air Force, and now having a Top Secret clearance, I now represent much more than myself, and need to watch what I say and do both in public and in private, as it now affects much more than myself.”
Again, it was absolutely clear that Teixeira understood the import of having a top-secret clearance and that in mishandling these documents, he was putting others at risk.
Here’s the guy who Republicans tried to make into a hero talking to those listening in on the Discord channel he administered:
TEIXEIRA: “I hope isis goes through with their attack plan and
creates a massacre at the World Cup”
TEIXEIRA: If I had my way I’d kill a fuck ton of people
TEIXEIRA: Bc in all honesty you have to
TEIXEIRA: Whether or not you like it
TEIXEIRA: Seriously I would be forcibly culling the weak minded
Other posts include Teixeira discussing how he might fire-bomb his college, how SUVs are the best vehicles for “assassinations,” and looking for the best rifle to shoot from a moving vehicle.
Then there are an entire string of posts from Teixeira as he first brags about how he’s been spreading classified information to an extent that shocks other users on his server:
User: Isn’t that shit classified?
TEIXEIRA: everything that I’ve been telling u guys up to this point has been 101
TEIXEIRA: this isn’t different
This carries on until mid-March, at which point he seemed to realize the situation was about to come down on his head. He let his followers know that he may not be able to share more information, but demonstrated again that he was always aware that some of them were outside the U.S., urging them to send information from “their nations.”
He tells those on his server he was “very happy and willing and enthusiastic” to have provided information on the Russian invasion over the past year and reminds them that he shared ”something that not many people get to see,” before warning that he is going to “stop with the updates.”
Two weeks later, one of the users sent Teixeira a screenshot of one of his documents floating around on pro-Russian Telegram accounts. By that time, he was scrambling to “close down the server” and leave. In his efforts to cover up his activities, Teixeira destroyed his cell phone and apparently tried to destroy at least one computer, with additional FBI images showing fragments of electronics.
Another statement from Teixeira, taken from a memorandum arguing against his release on bail, shows that the airman didn’t just share information on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he was actively soliciting requests for other classified information.
Teixeira: theres gonna be a fuck ton of information here
. . .
Teixeira: it may be irrelevant, but its not just ukraine i cover
Teixeira: i have stuff for israel, palestine, syria, iran, china
Teixeria: SE asia, sometimes western europe
It’s unclear to what extent Teixeira posted this other information. It’s also unclear if he provided this information through channels other than his Discord server, though that certainly seems possible.
But possibly the most shocking thing to emerge from these documents is the extent to which others at the Massachusetts Air National Guard were aware of Teixeira’s activities. Far from being stealthy about his theft of classified information, Teixeria was caught. Repeatedly.
Included in the filing are at least three incidents in which other members of the Air Guard were disturbed enough by Teixeira’s actions to bring them up to officers. That includes an incident in which Teixeira was seen taking notes during a classified briefing in violation of the rules, then pocketing the notes and leaving the room. He was stopped, asked if he intended to shred the information, and warned against making any such notes again. A second memorandum shows that Teixeira had repeated this behavior despite a warning. The memo above documents a third incident in which Teixeira was caught using a restricted system to access classified information unrelated to his job.
The most inexplicable thing through all this—despite concerns about his violent past, despite repeated violations of rules around handling classified documents, despite his continued violent, racist ideation that included posting a video in which he shoots at targets while making racist and antisemitic statements, despite his founding and administering an online server in which he made at least 40,000 statements sharing classified information with people he knew were foreign nationals—Jack Teixeira never lost his top-secret clearance. He doesn’t seem to have received so much as an official reprimand that would appear on his military record, even after he was caught again and again.
How he was awarded top-secret clearance, and how he was allowed to keep it, is a mystery.
Teixeira is going to be imprisoned for a long time, but there are definitely other people in his chain of command who screwed up to the extent that they should never again be in a position to control access to classified documents.
